Monday, April 7, 2014

Occupy activist facing seven years in jail was ‘promoter of non-violence’

An Occupy Wall Street activist charged with assaulting a police
officer is a “promoter of non-violence” who wandered into a tussle with
law enforcement while celebrating St Patrick’s Day, her lawyers plan to
argue in court this week.

Jury selection began on Monday morning in the trial of Cecily
McMillan, who denies assaulting Officer Grantley Bovell as he arrested
protesters from the anti-capitalist movement in New York’s Zuccotti Park
on 17 March 2012.

“An innocent woman is being accused of something that could send her
to prison for seven years,” McMillan’s attorney, Martin Stolar, told
reporters outside the state supreme courtroom in lower Manhattan. “She
was leaving the park pursuant to the police department’s orders when she
was brutally assaulted by a police officer and subsequently accused of
assaulting that police officer.” McMillan told a small group of
supporters: “Thank you for being here today.”